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In my experience as an adoptive mom to internationally adopted children, I have noticed that food seems to be an issue for nearly every internationally adopted child. At least I have seen it in all of my children that we have adopted or are adopting (from other countries), whether they were adopted as babies or as older children.

Our first child was eight months old when we adopted her. She was living in a foster home type of setting with a few other babies to be adopted. She was small, but also of a healthy size. The first night we had her with us, she ate and ate. We weren’t sure whether we should keep feeding her, but we also wanted her to be happy. She cried when she finished a bottle. She screamed when she polished off a jar of baby food. Before we knew, she was so full she started vomiting all over the place. We gave her a bath and put her to bed. The next couple of weeks saw similar behavior. However, we did not overfeed her again. She eventually grew out of crying when food was gone, but she has always been a very good eater.

Our second child was eleven months old at adoption and had been with a foster family since about one month of age. He was doted on and well-loved. His food issues were not as obvious as our daughter’s, but he was very intent during eating time, and would eat as much as we gave him. He also cried when his food was finished, and would want more. Thankfully, his interest in food became normal much faster than our daughter’s did.

(Our domestically adopted—at birth—daughter’s food issues were exclusively centered around her numerous food allergies. Not to mention the fact that she is a picky child with an unusual taste in food.)


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